Michiel Coxcie

Coxcie,
Michiel. Flemish painter, imitator of Raphael, known as the Flemish
Raphael; b. at Mechlin, 1499; d. there 1592. There are several
spellings for his name: Cocxie, Coxcie, Coxis, Coxcien. Coxcyen.
He was a pupil of his father, and afterwards studied under Van Orley,
with whom he visited Rome in 1532, where he made the acquaintance of
Vasari. There he married his first wife, Ida van Hasselt, with whom
he returned to Mechlin, in 1539, and the same year became a member of
the Academy of that place. In 1561 he was in Brussels, and after that
back in Mechlin, where, at the age of seventy, in 1560, he married
his second wife, Jeanne van Schelle. By his first wife he had three
children, Anne, a sculptor, William, and Raphael, painters; by his
second, two sons, Michiel, a painter, and Conrad, Coxcie painted
several large works for the Emperor Charles V and for Philip II, King
of Spain, to whom he was court painter. He designed thirty-two
subjects from the fable of Cupid and Psyche, which were engraved,
and, in conjunction with Van Orley, he directed the execution of some
tapestry made from the designs of Raphael. He copied part of the
great Van Eyck altar-piece for Philip II of Spain, and portions of
his copy are in Berlin and Munich and the remainder in Ghent. Several
of his paintings are to be seen at Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Berlin,
Madrid, St, Petersburg, and Vienna. In his paintings he bestowed
special care on the figures of women, and they are well modelled and
invariably graceful. In male figures he too often exaggerated the
anatomy and selected awkward and unreasonable attitudes. His
composition is very Italian in character, sometimes too academic in
line and grouping, but agreeable in effect. His best works are signed
and dated and are remarkable for their splendid colouring and
harmonious result.